The Obsidian Chamber

After a harrowing otherworldly confrontation on the shores of Exmouth, Massachussetts, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is missing, presumed dead. Sick with grief, Pendergast's ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive - only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past. Proctor, Pendergast's longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance's kidnapper through cities, across oceans, and into wastelands unknown....

Deadlands: Ghostwalkers

In Ghostwalkers, a gun-for-hire, literally haunted by his bloody past, comes to the struggling town of Paradise Falls, where he becomes embroiled in a deadly conflict between the besieged community and a diabolically brilliant alchemist who is building terrible new weapons of mass destruction...and an army of the living dead!

Wild Wise Woman says:"GOOD GRIEF (those who read the story will get it)"

Skinner

Known by the name of the psychological experiment that fostered his emotionless brutality, Skinner founded his career in "asset protection" on fear. To touch anyone under Skinner's protection was to invite destruction. A savagely effective methodology, until Skinner's CIA handlers began to fear him as much as his enemies did and banished him to the hinterlands of the intelligence community.

The Fireman: A Novel

No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it's Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies - before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent

Have you ever seen a planet invaded by rampaging space mutants from another dimension or Nazi dinosaurs from the future? Don't let this happen to you! Rifts happen, so you should be ready when universes collide. A policy with Stranger & Stranger can cover all of your interdimensional insurance needs. Rated "Number One in Customer Satisfaction" for three years running, no claim is too big or too weird for Tom Stranger to handle.

The Trespasser: A Novel

Being on the murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she's there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she's getting close to the breaking point. Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers' quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her catalogue-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner.

A Dangerous Man: A Novel

Reluctant hit man Henry Thompson has fallen on hard times. His grip on life is disintegrating, his pistol hand is shaking, his body is pinned to his living room couch by painkillers - and his boss, Russian mobster David Dolokhov, isn't happy about any of it. So Henry is surprised when he's handed a new assignment: Keep tabs on a minor league baseball star named Miguel Arenas. Henry has no pity for the slugger and the wicked gambling problem that got him in trouble, but he can't help liking the guy.

Island 731

Mark Hawkins, former park ranger and expert tracker, is out of his element, working onboard the Magellan, a research vessel studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But his work is interrupted when, surrounded by 30 miles of refuse, the ship and its high-tech systems are plagued by a series of strange malfunctions and the crew is battered by a raging storm. When the storm fades and the sun rises, the beaten crew awakens to find themselves anchored in the protective cove of a tropical island...and no one knows how they got there.

The Last Tribe

Fourteen-year-old Greg Dixon is living a nightmare. Attending boarding school outside of Boston, he is separated from his family when a pandemic strikes. His classmates and teachers are dead, rotting in a dormitory-turned-morgue steps from his room. The nights are getting colder, and his food has run out. The last message from his father is to get away from the city and to meet at his grandparents' town in remote New Hampshire.

The Fold

The folks in Mike Erikson's small New England town would say he's just your average, everyday guy. And that's exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he's chosen isn't much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he's content with his quiet and peaceful existence. That is, until an old friend presents him with an irresistible mystery, one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve.

They Thirst

It looked like another ordinary day in Los Angeles. Then night came...Evil as old as the centuries has descended upon the City of Angels - it comes as a kiss from the terrifying but seductive immortals. Slowly at first, then by the legions, the ravenous undead choke Los Angeles with bloodthirsty determination - and the hordes of monstrous victims steadily mount each night.

NOS4A2: A Novel

Victoria McQueen has an uncanny knack for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. When she rides her bicycle over the rickety old covered bridge in the woods near her house, she always emerges in the places she needs to be. Vic doesn't tell anyone about her unusual ability, because she knows no one will believe her. She has trouble understanding it herself.

One Second After

Already cited on the floor of Congress and discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a book all Americans should read, One Second After is the story of a war scenario that could become all too terrifyingly real. Based upon a real weapon - the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) - which may already be in the hands of our enemies, it is a truly realistic look at the awesome power of a weapon that can destroy the entire United States.

The Power of the Dog

This explosive novel of the drug trade takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you've never seen it.

Already Dead

From the Battery to the Bronx, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe Pitt is one of them, and he's not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that's eating at him isn't his idea of a good time.

The Second Life of Nick Mason

Nick Mason has already spent five years inside a maximum security prison when an offer comes that will grant his release 20 years early. He accepts - but the deal comes with a terrible price. Now, back on the streets, Nick Mason has a new house, a new car, money to burn, and a beautiful roommate. He's returned to society, but he's still a prisoner. Whenever his cell phone rings, day or night, Nick must answer it and follow whatever order he is given.

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson is a blazing new force on the sci-fi scene. With the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, he has "vaulted onto the literary stage." It weaves virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility - in short, it is the gigathriller of the information age.

First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this 10th anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author's preferred text, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.

Dead of Night: A Zombie Novel

A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he can be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang… but a bite.

Rot & Ruin

Fifteen-year-old Benny Imura lives in a world infested with zombies where, when a kid turns 15, he must get a job to continue receiving food rations. Benny has no interest in the family business of zombie killing, but figures he doesn’t have much of a choice. He’s tried out a bunch of other jobs, and hasn’t found anything he likes. But as Benny starts training with his brother, he learns things about being human that he never expected.

Hell House

For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.

But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.

Departure

En route to London from New York, Flight 305 suddenly loses power and crash-lands in the English countryside, plunging a group of strangers into a mysterious adventure that will have repercussions for all of humankind. Struggling to stay alive, the survivors soon realize that the world they've crashed in is very different from the one they left. But where are they? Why are they here? And how will they get back home?

14

There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s.

Audible Editor Reviews

July 2010. Los Angeles. Midnight. Gridlock traffic. An explosion. Then darkness. Amidst this chaos, an armed man named Park calmly weaves his way through the darkened streets. Bombs exploding in city centers no longer frighten Park or most people. More terrifying: lying down in bed at night, wondering if you’ll ever be able to sleep again.

Welcome to the harrowing, apocalyptic world of Sleepless, Charlie Huston’s surrealistic thriller brought to life by Ray Porter and Mark Bramhall, the gravely-voiced narrators who deliver a tour-de-force performance of Huston’s engrossing novel. In a world eerily similar to ours, a mysterious illness leaves people permanently awake and desperately seeking DR33M3R, the highly-prized drug nicknamed “Dreamer” which brings relief to the growing hoard of insomniacs.

Park, an undercover cop, sets out to track down a rumor about an illicit network trafficking Dreamer. Another intelligent, tough, urbane character named Jasper hunts the same prize, but for different reasons. Both soon realize there’s more to this rumor. And you’re wise to be paranoid. Crazy conspiracy theories abound, some of which just might be true. Welcome home, fans of Philip K. Dick and The X Files.

Sounding like a mixture of a world-weary Humphrey Bogart detective and a steel-eyed Clint Eastwood character hell-bent on justice, Porter and Bramhall expertly deliver Huston’s blunt, precise dialogue like boxers methodically dismantling an overwhelmed opponent one sharp punch at a time. Huston packs a lot of information into each sentence: Los Angeles geography and military jargon, as well as asides about video games, opera, typewriters, French wine, Craigslist, and nightclub etiquette. And yet no matter what the topic, Porter and Bramhall effortlessly toss off each sentence in a James Bond, martini-dry style.

Careful listeners know better. Beneath the stinging sarcasm and gun-blazing bravado, Park and Jasper care deeply about the disintegrating world around them. That’s why both men attack their assignments with a dogged determination. So be warned. Once you start listening to Sleepless, you might suffer from the same sickness as you race to hear the thrilling ending of this frightening yet captivating vision of the not-so-distant future. 

I first chose a Huston novel because of the fascinating title of his "The Mystic Art of Erasing All Signs of Death", which in turn provoked me to want to read more of his writing. I went on to the Joe Pitt series which were great. This one sounded unusual and it was. He did not fail to deliver.
The down sides for me were 1) it took me a couple of chapters to get the the hang of the narrator changes since they weren't exactly tied to the characters, but after that it went smoothly. And 2) the gritty noir-ishness of Huston's writing wasn't highlighted as much by these narrators as were the previous novels I "read", but I got past that easily enough; however those two points did keep me from giving it 4 stars. That and the fact that Huston's books just aren't "great" literature, but they are inventive and very well done.
I know Huston's style isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it does to me. and I am looking forward to more of his work and wish more of them were on Audible (preferably with Scott Brick).

I think people who were bored by this book may have been expecting another fast moving vampire/detective novel. Instead what you get is a stunning story akin to On The Beach. I have now listened to or read all of Charlie Huston’s works and feel that this is far and away his best. I can’t recommend the story highly enough and would encourage others to evaluate it on its own merits rather than what they expected it to be. With regards to the two narrators, I don’t understand why they chose to present the story in this manor; however, I did not find it distracting enough to take away a star. In short, this book is f…. awesome.

Honestly I don't know how I made it through this book. I was so bored, I came very close to just giving up and moving on to something else. Very disappointing because 1) the premise of the novel sounded very interesting to me and 2) I've read previous Huston books which maybe weren't the greatest things ever but were at least entertaining.

If your idea of interesting fiction includes long, rambling exposition and character introspection then this book is for you. You'll get about 13 hours of repetitive, monotonous reflection and about 3 hours of actual plot and action. Its really too bad because those three hours of action are actual pretty good. I guarantee this will be one of those books where you find yourself zoning out and missing entire passages.

It was a little twisted and odd, so it was a nice change. However, I counldn't stand the 2 readers changing constantly. There were basically 2 main characters, so it would have made sense if each reader did 1 main character. Nope. All of a sudden, the tone and accent would change but it was the same character thinking and doing. weird way to listen to a novel, IMO.

This could have been a great book... interesting plot, characters, etc, however it fell short. Too much time was spent describing the environment and not enough time spent on full character development. It was like looking into a beautiful aquarium full of interesting fish, etc, but can't make out/enjoy the details, because the glass is so dirty you can't quite see in.

I only made it through chapter 17... It was just too dull/bland. It needed more substance and a lot more action/intrigue... as I said, it could have been a great book.

I could tell this writer has a way with words. I have not read any others of his work... maybe this was just an off case.

I didn't have any problems with the narration. It was a dull book and the authors read it as such.

Sleepless is, in a word, brilliant. Having lived through the sleep-deprivation of a colicky infant, I can attest to the scary accuracy of Mr. Huston's vision of the rest-challenged. The alternate timeline is believable, the characters have spectacular depth, and the whole thing, plot and characters, were engaging enough that I found myself listening way, way past my bedtime. Heck, I even cried, and more than once. There was plenty of action without it turning into just-another-wannabe-Hollywood-blockbuster like so many other detective stories these days. And I have to agree with another reviewer who commented that the book was so chock-full of ideas that it could have been a whole series!

I'm a huge fan of Ray Porter, having listened to his readings of numerous titles across several genres. I've never been let down. This was my first Mark Bramhall experience and I'll definitely be returning. His performance of Mr. Huston's quick, vivid dialog is probably the best I've heard in any audio book ever. Now, I do have an itsy-bitsy tiny gripe regarding Mr. Bramhall's reading, and that is the accent used for the Lady of the Thousand Storks. It wasn't a great fit for me, but one can't deduct 1/10th of a star, so it still gets five for performance.

Overall, I was blown away by Sleepless. Now, I know it takes all kinds to make a world, but I don't see how anyone could be bored by this gem. Keep them coming, Mr. Huston. Keep them coming.

This dystopian novel of a virus run amok in near-future Los Angeles holds a mirror up to our society and makes us look at ourselves in new ways. Do people who play video games solve problems in new and amazing ways, or are they just addicts? If I thought the world was ending, would I try to sell all my stuff on Craig's List? Is there a difference between being "wealthy" and being "rich"? There are enough ideas in this novel for ten books. And more than enough laugh out loud moments to make you forget the torture scenes. My entire scifi book club loved this book and you will too. I listened to this as an audio book and the narrators (Ray Porter & Mark Bramhall) were wonderful.

...but I'm now all out as this was his last on my "unread list." After having stumbled across the first of the Joe Pitt series, I became a fan of his dark style, "noir-ish" as a previous reviewer aptly labeled it. Huston is very skilled and has a keen way with words, particularly when it comes to details which may, at first glance, seem to be trivial but lend flavor and spice to the overall scenario he is developing. Unlike a few other reviewers, I appreciated the two-narrator design of this audiobook, as I think it went a long way toward demarcating the two points of view presented. Not even the skillful Scott Brick could have pulled that off as well.

With such a fascinating premise, I'd hoped this would be a plot-driven novel. Instead, the author seemed too focused on his protagonist, Parker Haas, in particular--and I thought there was far too much dialogue, which perhaps was in the service of further fleshing out the inner conflicts of that main character. I get it, that Haas felt conflicted, but the disease, the political situation, and the societal impact, in my opinion, was so much more fascinating.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Probably "The Accident", by Chris Pavone.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There wasn't enough difference between their voices, in my opinion. But I didn't really have a problem with the narration or the production, it's just that the book was not to my taste.

What character would you cut from Sleepless?

Not sure any one character needed to be cut so much as there was too much dialogue and not enough plot progress--for my taste, though maybe this novel is more literary than what I personally wanted, in that I guess the author's goal was too explore character more than plot.

Any additional comments?

I actually hope this book will be made into a movie because I would love to see this premise explored in a plot-driven manner. I apologize to the author for writing a negative review--I know how hard it is to write novels, and I can tell from the prose that he worked hard on this and that he's a great writer, it just wasn't my type of read.

I love Charlie Huston's Hank Thompson trilogy (Caught Stealing, etc)- he does full-energy noir better than any modern author since James Crumley. This is a very different book and also wonderful. The narrators did an excellent job of portraying the different first-person voices and the story itself is compelling and terrifying. The first chapter or so is a bit tough to key in to, since you are dropped right in the middle of the story with characters that are not yet introduced, let alone developed. Give it a chance, it's a great listen.